Confusion

At a taco truck near Maya Angelou Community High School in South Los Angeles, senior Ramiro Gonzalez showed off his school-issued iPad tucked into his backpack Tuesday, excited that he still has it. "They're saying we might have to give them back now," he said. "But I hope we get to keep them. " Nearby, Eliazith Lorenzo, a senior at a different school on the same campus, had his iPad taken back only days after receiving it. He'd used it a little in class but said he'd mostly played a soccer game on it at home.

Ted Labuza ate sour cream on Tuesday that was two weeks past its due date. And lived to tell the tale. Dana Gunders went to the market and found fat-free milk in quarts that had no date label; the half-gallon had a “sell-by” date, and another container from a different brand had a “best-by” date. Even though nearly all consumers make some decisions about what to throw away based on those stamped dates, they cannot rely on them, said Gunders, food and agriculture staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

It was billed as a bold attempt to give parents the power to transform their failing schools. But more than two years after California legislators passed the parent-trigger law, it has sparked so much controversy that even the measure's author supports revisions. Los Angeles Unified last week launched the first effort in the state to ease confusion and conflict over the 2010 law, which allows parents to oust staff, change curriculum, close a campus or convert the school to an independent public charter.

Marijuana policy, like immigration policy, is something the country just can't seem to get right. For the latest evidence of how confusing pot laws can be, just take a look at Anaheim, where a property owner is fighting a federal government attempt to seize his two-story commercial building, which is worth about $1.5 million. Tony Jalali's crime? On two occasions he rented one of his 12 office spaces to medical marijuana dispensaries, thinking such operations were perfectly legal in California.

SPOKANE, Wash. - When Glenn Longstorff's mind goes back to that room at the hospital a few nights ago, he hurts for his friend, the man people around here knew as Shorty. He thinks of the kid drafted to war at 18. The soldier shot in the leg on the beach at Okinawa, who never cared to say too much about it. The fixture around town - at the Sportsman Cafe & Lounge for coffee almost every morning, and at the Eagles Lodge on many nights. Delbert Belton, 88, was in his car outside the lodge watering hole Wednesday night, waiting for his girlfriend to meet him to shoot some pool, when he was robbed and beaten.

Dreaming of an early retirement? Squirreling away a little from each paycheck is a great place to start. Where should you put it? Under the mattress? Hide it in the backyard? Most financial advisors would recommend stashing your cash in a 401(k). The problem? The majority of Americans are so confused about the retirement fund that they don't know where to start. In a nationwide survey by Charles Schwab of more than 1,000 401(k) plan participants, more than half of respondents said they find explanations of their 401(k)

"The Frozen Ground" is a grim, undistinguished procedural thriller based on the true case of serial killer Robert Hansen who, from 1971 to 1983, abducted, raped and murdered at least 17 young women in Alaska. Although writer-director Scott Walker seems committed to not overly exploiting his lurid subject matter, the movie is just too dreary, disjointed and generically creepy to be persuasive. The story, set in 1983, finds upright Alaska state trooper Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage), reportedly an amalgam of several real-life characters, struggling to bring Hansen (John Cusack)

August 10, 2013 | By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic

"The White Queen," a co-production of the BBC and Starz, debuted in Britain this summer to mostly scathing reviews. Critics objected especially to a few glaring anachronisms - no zippers in the 15th century, nor tourist-friendly castle handrails - and a general lack of the slop-pots-'n'-rotten-teeth realism that has marked period dramas ever since HBO's "John Adams" showcased the horror of early smallpox vaccines. There was, however, the feeling that the Americans might like it better.

Residents across California were startled overnight by cellphones that came to life in screeches and buzzes, awaking some and unsettling others with the state's first Amber Alert via text message. Californians are no strangers to Amber Alerts, which are issued for critical child abductions. But for the first time Monday night, residents across the Southland experienced an Amber Alert issued via text message to their cellphones -- and got the full complement of a 10-second spurt of high-pitched noise and buzzing.

A slight redesign to Twitter's website is causing confusion among some users, who believe the social network might be blocking them from tweeting. For some users, Twitter has removed its tweet compose box that is normally at the top left corner of its website and has replaced it with another box that says "Get Started. " The new box is prompting users to find more friends from their address books on various email services, such as Gmail and Yahoo. PHOTOS: Six things rich tech execs splurge on It's unclear if Twitter is testing a new design or if this is simply a glitch.